Jan 11, 2024
[JOHOR] The Johor Bahru (JB)-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link – a 4 km light rail that will ferry passengers between Woodlands North in Singapore and Bukit Chagar in JB – has reached 65 per cent completion as at Dec 31 last year.
The cross-border project, which is on track to begin operations by December 2026, reached a “significant milestone” with the completion of the connecting span, which connects the marine viaduct between Malaysia and Singapore, said the two countries’ transport ministries on Jan 11, 2024.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim were at the RTS Link Marine Viaduct site to commemorate the milestone by signing commemorative plaques to symbolise the “shared commitment” to deliver the RTS Link.
All 12 pile caps that provide the foundation for the piers supporting the 730 m RTS Link marine and land viaduct on the Singapore side have also been completed. Construction of the piers, as well as the launch of viaduct segments, are ongoing.
The viaduct will connect through underground tunnels to the RTS Link Woodlands North station, which will be accessible to a customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) building by an underground linkway. The total gross floor area of the RTS Link Woodlands North station and the CIQ building is about 10 times the size of a typical MRT station.
When operational, the RTS Link – with an estimated project cost of RM10 billion (S$2.9 billion) – will have the capacity to serve 10,000 passengers an hour in each direction between Woodlands North station and Bukit Chagar in JB. Malaysia’s MRT Corp said in a factsheet that the first-year ridership is estimated to be 41,400 passengers per day.
The journey will last about five minutes. Both countries have agreed that the fares, which are not yet finalised, will be determined by RTS Operations, a joint-venture formed between Singapore’s SMRT and Malaysian public transport firm Prasarana to run the rail shuttle services.
As the immigration facilities of Singapore and Malaysia will be co-located at both stations, passengers only need to clear the immigration authorities at departure. The RTS Link Woodlands North station is linked to the Woodlands North MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line via an underground concourse, allowing passengers to continue their journey to other parts of Singapore without needing to exit the station.